Citric Isle
by Cotton Picker
Summary: Tara takes her friends to her home island and find out a little bit more about them, while running into a few familiar fishy faces...
1. Chapter 1

"The water feels so good, 'cause its super hot out!" Tara said swimming alongside the Going Merry. She looked at her captain's droopy face with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. "Yeah, I'm burning up…Hey! I wanna chill off too!" Luffy said with a trademark grin as he plopped himself into the sea. "Luffy-san…you can't swim." The mermaid declared letting him ride on her back to the island she had suggested to stay on during the storm.

"Here we are!" Tara cried out with joy, swimming gracefully with a pleased Luffy on her back. "Wow, I never knew that swimming was so fun and easy!" When the mermaid beached on the shore, Nami had corrected him. "Luffy, you can't swim!" All of the straw hats left the ship and decided to part their ways; this Island was where Tara was born and she had already told them where everything was. Of course, by now no one lived there—that's what she thought, last time she had visited was years ago—it was her private hiding place.

"Even thought it's a vacation…I still have to train." Zolo said to himself. He had his whole training agenda planned out for the day. First, he'd work on using one sword. It's always good to have the skills for using one sword in case a mishap occurred with his two other blades. Next, he was going to strengthen his muscles more. All he had to worry about was whether his scab would open up…or getting lost.

"Are you enjoying yourselves? Yes?" Tara asked the marksman and captain. "Mmhmm, this food looks great!" Usopp said stuffing his face. Luffy nodded in agreement as the two spoke in unison. "Let's eat candy!" Those two boys stuffed their faces with candied fruits and other sweets. The mermaid chuckled at the two 'children'. "I'm going to go find Zolo and offer him some. He works so hard and doesn't even eat sometimes!" After wandering around aimlessly to find him Tara finally saw Zolo—but wasn't exactly happy with what she found. "You're lost; and wounded!"

"It's a good thing that I came when I did. You could have been infected." Tara sighed and moved the green sash the swordsman wears around his waist up onto his open scar. "You're always training every day. Why do you push yourself so hard?" Zolo sighed and managed to sit up against a tree trunk. "I made a promise to someone very close to me." The merman's ears perked up at the word promise. "What was her name? The woman you promised?" The swordsman was quite shocked at Tara's statement. "H-how do you know it's not a man?" The young lady laughed and started to explain in a reasoned manner. "Well, a most of the time when a man makes a promise that he doesn't break, it's an engagement." Not only was Zolo now shocked, his face was turning a rosy red. "Kuina isn't my fiancé!"

"What? Who's Kuina?" Tara asked. After all, if someone was thought to be betrothed to another than it must be someone close to Zolo. "Is she your girlfriend, Zolo? You don't have to answer me if you don't want to. I-I just met you and all…" First mate sighed and ran a hand through his light green locks. "Meh, I guess I should tell you the whole story anyways…" He sighed and rolled his eyes towards the sky.

"When I was a kid, I challenged a dojo to a battle. I lost against a young girl training there named Kuina. We would pit our skills against each other all the time until one day Kuina got in an accident and died. One of the three swords I wield now belonged to her." He unsheathed his blade and looked at it glisten in the sun's rays, and then put it back away. "Back then we promised one another that one of us would be the best swordsman…and that's why I train so hard." Zolo looked down at the grass.

"Its like you are carrying out her wish. That's so sweet of you, Zolo!" Tara smiled and took a bite out of the food that she had prepared for him. "Oh! I guess I forgot to give you the food I made…Oops…Well, its some of the fruits around here. Citric Isle is known for its limes, you have no idea how good they taste…Anyways, I should go now." The mermaid stood up. "Thanks for talking to me. It's nice that we can just chat sometimes!" She smiled and ran off to find the others. Zolo's face grew a slight pink. "Who is that strange girl…and why is she making me feel like this…"

* * *

**Notes from CP  
**Notice that Citric Isle isn't included in the original One Piece storyline. The reason is that in the American version of the manga (I'm going by Shonen Jump, they are the farthest) that the Merry Go isn't in the Grand Line yet. Heck, the Viz volumes are still at Arlong Park! So if I'm going ot keep a steady pace with the media I'm going by I need to add in some arcs of my own...

So be expecting more fillers (and light shed on Zolo and Tara's blooming relationship) coming your way! Ciao!


	2. Chapter 22

Back at the small house that Tara had once lived in the sun was setting with radiant colors. "I bet I can eat more than you." A rather bloated Luffy groaned over to the sniper Usopp. "N…no way." He picked up another unpeeled kumquat and stuffed his mouth. "You guys are going to get sick. I would NOT enjoy cleaning up your puke!" A laughing Tara came from behind them. "Where have you been, Tara? Don't tell me you have the sense of direction of our captain!"

"No, I was just thinking…about stuff." The mermaid sat down with them, something obviously on her mind. "Well stuff is a great subject to think about, ha-ha!" The rubber man stated his 'wise' opinion and stuffed his mouth full of candied fruits. Nami, however, didn't buy this stuff shtick as easy as dumb and dumber over there. "I…I should be going now." Nami stopped Tara before she could stand up. "It looks like we need to talk, Tara, c'mon." The navigator said to her friend, walking with her to an area where the two boys could not hear them chat.

"Okay Tara, what's up? You're acting even quieter than usual!" Nami asked her dear pal. "Nothing's wrong. I was just thinking about people and such, that's all. Nothing to worry about…" This statement caused the red head to laugh to her self. "You are so bad at lying about how you feel it's pretty funny. Now, are you going to make me guess? Alright here goes…" Just as she was about to roll down the list of what would be troubling a lady of her age when Tara interrupted her. "Stop it, I'll tell I'll tell, okay?" Yellow tang sighed and sat up. "It's about…one of the men on the crew, Nami. I really like him a lot but he already gave his love to another woman. What should I do?"

"Hmm…I can't really give you some advice there!" Nami chuckled. "I do think I know who you're talking about, though." A vision of the skirt chasing chef Sanji popped into Nami's red head. "You really do? So you might be able to help me sometime?" The navigator shrugged. "Yeah, I'll try. But I'm going to remind you, he's not going to be an easy shell to crack, if you know what I mean." Tara grinned at her friend's support. "Thank but…I think we should be getting back to those two before they eat themselves into an early grave."

When Nami and Tara got back to the cottage Sanji was already waiting for them to arrive. "Hello, ladies!" He greeted them with a cheery face and a happy smile. "I fixed up a great dinner for you two." The meal for the two consisted of the large fish he had previously bought at Rouge Town along with a sauce of limes. "Guess what I found for you? Two rare pink peaches—and I have one for each of you. Enjoy!" In contrary to Nami, whom ate her specially prepared meal, Tara only spooned it around on her plate. "What's wrong Tara! Are you sick? Do you need me to feed you?" Sanji was concerned about his crewmate's odd behavior, but then Tara stopped his barrage of well-intended questions. "I just need some time on my own." The mermaid sighed and stood up form her chair. "You must have gone through a lot to get this for me. Thanks, Sanji." Tara smiled at him and left the small home, sitting on the shore of the isle.

"Are you stalking me or something?" A tall man approached Tara, who blushed and tried to shrug it off. "I think you're just lost…again. We're on the other side of the island." The man, otherwise known as Zolo, let out a large sigh and sat besides her. "So, can you take me back to the house? I'm pretty hungry, and limes and those baby oranges are too tart." Tara handed him the pink peach that Sanji had picked specially for her and Nami. "It's the fruit you told me about." Zolo didn't think twice about eating the gift. Being a lost boy all day really did a number on his stomach. Peach juice as dripping down his mouth as Tara laughed. "I really miss it out here. It's so…quiet." She stretched out on the sandy ground and closed her eyes, falling asleep for the day. "Hey, Tara…You're supposed to show me the way home…Oh well." The swordsman grinned at Tara and lied down on his back until he feel asleep; unknown to him and the rest of the crew that three merman were out to seek revenge…


	3. Chapter 3

The shining sun rose upon Citric Isle the next morning, only to shine light on a new appearing woman on the beach. _What's wrong with me?!_ Tara thought to herself. _My slick skin…Its…it's all…soft. _ Tara panicked a little and she stood up and splashed salty seawater over her face, as if this was all a dream. Patches of bluish lavender flakes fell from her face into the ocean and drifted in different directions. "Oh my god…My skin…peeled!" _What Arlong said is true! I never did believe him and now…_Tara recalled the 'wisdom' that her uncle shared with her.

"_Of course, Tara, you have to be proud you are of the dominant species." Arlong noted when Tara was just starting to work around the park. "I have to remind you of something very crucial." This caused her to brim with interest in her uncle's words. "Never spend too much time laying down on something hot. Your fishlike skin will burn off and you'll look more like a pew-man! Next thing you know you'll end up smelling like one too…" He kept on ranting and rambling on about how bothersome the human race is, and Tara left him to go eat some cake._

_I guess he was really good for something…_ She sighed and ran her hands through her hair and then down to her neck. _At least I still have my fin and gills! _ Tara grinned and looked over at her traveling companion, asleep with a growling stomach. "Who are you?" First Mate Zolo asked the person appearing before him. It took him a while, but he then recognized the fin on her head. "T-Tara is that you? Wow you look…different." He shook the images of her from his head as he stood up and touched her shoulder. "We have to go find the others."

"Breakfast's ready!" Sanji called out to his crew members. After being beckoned, only Nami appeared at the table—followed by a very hungry Luffy and Usopp. Sanji beamed as everyone downed their food…everyone except Zolo and Tara. "Where are those two, anyways? They've been out for hours…" Sanji stated, sitting down and looking out the window. "You don't think that they're—"

"They're sleeping on the ship. Zolo opened up his wound while training and Tara was going to fix it up. It's nothing really…" Nami made up on the spot. She didn't want her friends thinking that those two were up to something. "Tara knows her way around this place, they can't possibly get lost." _They had better not be lost...We're preparing to leave soon. _

"Ready to go everyone?" Luffy called out for a quick headcount. "Yup! The gang's all here..." Nami said, starting to panic. She had looked around for the two on the ship but they weren't there. The anchor had already been lifted, and the crew was ready to go to the Grand Line--all except for Tara and Zolo. "Wait, Luffy! We can't get leave the island yet!" It was too late. They were departed from the Isle just as fast as they had arrived. With those two absences the group would be incomplete. If only Nami had told them where her friend had run off to...everything would be okay. But now...She cradled her head in her hands, sighing. _She can't possibly swim to the ship...She just can't. _

"Nami? What's wrong? You look so unhappy..." A tanned female looked at Nami with worry in her eyes. "W-who are you?!" She drew back, alarmed. The red head had thought that the island was uninhabited. Could this be a stowaway? "Nami...its me. Tara. Look, I kind of...changed a bit. Thanks for covering for us." The navigator was quiet. "But...what about Zolo?" Tara smiled in reassurance. "He's fine. His wounds opened up though...But I washed them out and bandaged them. He's just taking the usual nap." Nami sighed in solace. "Thank god."

It was a good thing that the pirates had left at the time that they did; as three bodies washed up at the shore. "That is the imprint of a fin on the sand…She's here; and also has a few friends of hers." A rather muscular light gray fish man said, examining the marks left on the sand where Tara and Zolo had slept together. "Aww isn't this cute, looks like her and that human held hands. Gross, I bet she reeks like one too!" The eight limbed fish man exclaimed in disgust. "Well we can probably find 'em eventually." A blue fish man with lips that extended from his mouth said. "We can find her easy here. She isn't the only one that can find the way around this place…"


End file.
